The American studies major seeks to understand the American experience through a multidisciplinary program of study. The requirements for the major are as follows. Nine units of course work are required for the major, at least six of which should be taken at Wellesley College. These courses include AMST 101, which should be completed before the end of the junior year; at least two courses in historical studies; one course in literature; one course in the arts; and one course from any one of the following three areas: social and behavioral analysis; or epistemology and cognition; or religion, ethics, and moral philosophy. Students are also expected to take at least two Grade III-level courses, one of which should be AMST 317 or 318, taken in the junior or senior year. To ensure some concentration in a field of American society and culture, at least three courses should be elected in one department. In consultation with the director, a student may choose to focus her concentration in an area or field, such as law, women, or Asian America, assembling her group of three or more courses in this topic from two or more departments. American studies majors with an Asian American concentration are encouraged to take courses that specifically address Asian American issues, such as AMST 151, ENG 269, HIST 267, WOST 248,WOST 249.

Within this structure, students are encouraged to explore the diversity of American culture, and the many ways to interpret it.Most courses at the College that are primarily American in content may be applied to the American studies major. American studies majors are encouraged to take as part of, or in addition to, their major courses, surveys of American history, literature, and art (for example, HIST 203/204, ENG 262/266, ARTH 231/232) and a course on the American Constitution and political thought (for example, POL4 340). In addition, students are urged to take one or more courses outside the major that explore the theory and methods of knowledge creation and production (for example, PHIL 345, SOC 301, or QR 199). Students eligible for honors work and considering doing a thesis during their senior year should plan to identify a thesis advisor, specify their project, and, if possible, begin work before the end of their junior year. Courses of study, and the possibility of honors work, should be discussed with the American studies director.

Departmental Courses
from the Wellesley College Bulletin

AMST 101 Introduction to American Studies
Fisher (English)
An interdisciplinary examination of some of the varieties of American experience, aimed at developing a functional vocabulary for further work in American studies or related fields. After a brief, intense review of American history, the course will direct its focus towards important moments in that history, investigating each of them in relation to selected cultural, historical, artistic, and political events, figures, institutions, and texts.
Prerequisite: This course is required of American studies
majors and should be completed before the end of the junior year.
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0

AMST 125/WRIT 125 Defining Asian American Literature
Iwanaga (The Writing Program)
The question we will pose at the outset, and which we will revisit frequently, is “What defines Asian American literature?” The writer’s ethnicity? The topic? The intended audience? Authors studied may include Maxine Hong Kingston, Patti Kim, Jhumpa Lahiri, R.O. Butler, Peter Ho Davies, Sandra Tsing Loh,Monique T.D. Truong. Students will also read essays on the power of creativity and the imagination. As students refine their definitions of Asian American literature, spurred on by texts that challenge their initial ideas, they will work toward defining American identity itself. This course satisfies the Writing 125 requirement and counts as a unit towards the Asian American studies concentration within the American studies major. Includes a third session each week.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Language and Literature
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

AMST 151 The Asian American Experience
Lee (English)
An interdisciplinary introduction to the study of Asian Americans, the fastest-growing ethnic group in North America. Critical examination of different stages of their experience from the “ coolie labor” and “yellow peril” to the “model minority” and struggles for identity; roots of Asian stereotypes; myth and reality of Asian women; prejudice against, among, and by Asians; and Asian contribution to a more pluralistic, tolerant, and just American society. Readings, films, lectures, and discussions.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

AMST 317 Seminar.Advanced Topics in American Studies
Rosenwald (English)
Topic for 2004-05: Nonviolence in America.
A study of an important, diverse, and living American tradition. Some central questions: What is nonviolence? What has its relation been to law and to money? In what sorts of life, action, institution, legislation, and text has it been manifested? How has it been depicted? Discussion of nonviolent activists and thinkers, among them John Woolman,William Lloyd Garrison, Henry David Thoreau,William James, Jane Addams, Dorothy Day,Martin Luther King, Daniel Berrigan; of depictions of nonviolence by such artists as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Norman Mailer, and Robbie Leppzer; of analyses and critiques of nonviolence by Staughton and Alice Lynd, Peter Brock,Marjorie Kornhauser. Also, conversation with guest speakers from inside and outside the nonviolent community. One short essay, one long essay, one experiential project.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Enrollment is limited
and preference is given to American studies majors.
Distribution: Language and Literature or Religion, Ethics
and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
Bedell (Art History)

Topic for 2005-06: Disneyland and American Culture.
One of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, subject of thousands of books and articles, adored by millions yet reviled by many intellectuals, Disneyland has occupied a prominent place in American culture since it opened in 1955. This seminar will examine Disneyland as an expression of middle class American values, as a locus of corporatism and consumerism, as a postmodern venue, as a utopia, and as an influence upon architecture and urban design. In a broader sense, we will use Disney to explore the ideals, the desires, and the anxieties that have shaped post-World War II American culture.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Enrollment is limited and preference is given to American studies majors.
Distribution: Arts,Music, Theatre, Film, and Video or Historical Studies
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

AMST 318 Seminar.Advanced Topics in American Studies
Brogan (English)
Topic for 2004-05: Gotham: New York City in Literature and Art.
This course examines that icon of modernity, New York City, as it appears in literature, photography, and film.We’ll cross neighborhoods and centuries to consider how Americans have variously envisioned this cultural and financial capital.Moving from the grim nineteenth-century streets of Five Points to the canyons of Wall Street, from Roth’s Lower East Side tenements to Wharton’s grand Fifth Avenue residences, from the photographs of Berenice Abbott and Lewis Hine to the films of Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, we’ll think in interdisciplinary ways about how the richly varied interpretations of New York contribute to a national discussion about urban ideals, modernism, immigration, and money.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Enrollment is limited
and preference is given to American studies majors.
Distribution: Language and Literature or Arts,Music,
Theatre, Film, Video
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
Shetley (English)

Topic for 2005-06: American Cinema of the 1970s.
Between the breakdown of the studio system and the blockbuster era, American filmmaking enjoyed a decade of extraordinary achievement.We’ll study the great films produced in this period, such as Taxi Driver, The Godfather, Nashville, Annie Hall, Shampoo, and Apocalypse Now, connecting those films to the national and cinematic contexts of their times. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Enrollment is limited and preference is given to American studies majors. Distribution: Arts,Music, Theatre, Film,Video
Semester: N/O Unit: 1.0

AMST 350 Research or Individual Study
Prerequisite: Open by permission of the director to juniors and seniors.
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0
36 American Studies

AMST 360 Senior Thesis Research
Prerequisite: By permission of director.
Students eligible for honors work and considering doing a thesis during their senior year should plan to identify a thesis advisor, specify their project, and aim to begin work before the end of their junior year. See Academic Distinctions.
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

AMST 370 Senior Thesis
Prerequisite: 360
Distribution: None
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

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